the doors opened.
There he was, dominating the opening, her eyes so caught up in him that she didn’t notice the lack of mini-McGregor. Not until he was striding for her, the designer cut to his deep blue suit complementing his smooth, confident stride, his white shirt open at the collar, his grey eyes sharp against his dark skin and pinned wholly on her.
She frowned, looked to his left, his right, behind. She wet her lips. ‘No Lily?’
He paused before her, his smile bordering on sheepish. ‘I took your advice and fed her early. She’s now tucked up in bed as she should be and I’m all yours... I mean...well, you know what I mean.’
Her cheeks coloured, the warmth spreading through her belly and smothering her nerves. ‘You should have eaten with her, not waited for me. We could have postponed.’
‘No chance.’ He grimaced, his hand running through his hair that refused to be tamed and her palms tingled, itching to try. ‘The only way I could get Lily fed and into bed was by assuring her we would still go out to dinner.’
She gave a shaky laugh. ‘She has you wrapped around her little finger.’
‘Don’t all daughters?’
She thought of her own father and banished him from her mind just as swiftly. ‘I hope she wasn’t too disappointed?’
‘No, she just sees it as a reason for us to get together again.’
Her heart skipped a beat. Pleasure, quickly followed by panic. ‘Again?’
He chuckled. ‘Do you have to look so unsettled by the idea?’
‘Sorry, I’m just thinking... I’m sure you have more important things to be doing while in London.’
‘Let us McGregors be the judge of that, hey?’
His light-hearted tone and the appreciative heat of his gaze worked together to lure her into feeling almost worthy of this evening, of a date with someone as impressive as him.
‘Shall we?’
It took her a second to register his gesture to leave, another for his arm to curve around her and for his palm to settle against her lower back. The warmth of his touch soothed away her anxiety and slowly she turned on her heel and walked with him to the door, her head awash with questions.
Would it hurt, just for one night, to pretend it was all possible? To pretend it was a date? A real date? To go with the flow, go with...? His fingers fluttered against her lower back, reminding her of their presence, their effect, and her breath caught with her silent agreement.
When going with the flow felt this good, how could she possibly fight it?
‘I hope you like Chinese.’
‘Hmm?’ was all she could manage as she focused on keeping her legs moving and not turning to jelly beneath her.
‘This restaurant used to be a favourite of mine,’ he added.
‘Uh-huh.’ Oh, goodness, Sophia, is that really the best you can do? ‘I’m so hungry I could eat pretty much anything right now.’
She flicked him a look, saw his eyebrow raise at her impulsive statement and snapped her eyes back ahead. He thought she meant him. Him.
She nearly swallowed her tongue and threw her attention to the night doorman instead. ‘Evening, Henry.’
‘Miss Lambert.’ He held the door open for them both and smiled. ‘Have a good evening.’
‘Thank you,’ Jack said, his focus returning to Sophia. ‘I’d tell you to put your coat on but my driver’s waiting for us and the car will be warm.’
He looked to a sleek black car parked up in the circular courtyard, its driver, dressed in livery, already pulling open the rear door.
Wow. The number of times she had greeted or bade farewell to influential clients in this entrance, dreamed of how their lives would be, so different to her own, and now here she was, doing the exact same thing.
Her grip on reality really was wavering, but in that moment, as she thanked his driver and slipped inside the luxurious interior of his car, she didn’t care.